Saturday 19th August 2023
Sunday April 30th saw John Chance and myself taking something of a spontaneous visit to Alvecote Priory in Staffordshire...
While very little remains of the original structure, it is a pretty and historic site – originally built in 1159 – that has something of a rather ‘grim’ foundation story! In returning from a crusade, one Sir William Burdette believed that his wife had been unfaithful in his absence and… ‘stabbed her to death’! As penance for such a ‘rash act’, he subsequently founded the priory! *(A fairly similar, local, story can be found at Baddesley Clinton, in Warwickshire. In that instance, Nicholas Brome murdered a priest, but received a pardon from the Pope under the agreement that he ‘renovate the local church’ as penance! In that instance, however, Brome at least had himself buried – standing up - under the entrance to the church, so that anyone entering would ‘tread over his head’!)
Where Burdette was concerned, however, he was tucked away – in an archway – in the North side of Alvecote Priory Church. He is recorded as being ‘covered by a plain, free stone… embossed with a large cross’.
In her book ‘Our Ghost Story Starts Here’, author Jean Wood reports having been told of a (then) recent, ‘spooky experience’ involving a car containing two women. Having just driven over the hump-backed canal bridge, near the ruin, both the lights and engine of the vehicle ‘died’… The car had become freezing cold and all attempts to restart it failed…
Suddenly, the sound of singing – from somewhere to their left – was heard and, looking round, they witnessed a procession of white-clad ‘monks’ seemingly in the process of chanting, as if in church! At the head of the column was a figure holding a lamp up, above his head. The procession appeared to be moving in a mist – towards the car – a potential ‘meeting’ utterly petrifying the occupants!
Suddenly, one of the repeated efforts to re-start the vehicle proved successful and, without pause, the driver ‘shot off’, along Robeys Lane, like the proverbial ‘bat out of hell’!
The bizarre thing about this story was the simple fact that, some 3 years earlier, Jean Wood had been working on some fictional ghost stories and had started to write a tale about Alvecote Priory which ran along almost identical lines to the allegedly true life account!? Jeans story was also inspired by a trip to her daughter’s house, who lived in Alvecote, while, in the real account, the women had been visiting friends in the same village…
Another story that Jean relates concerns a ‘hard-headed miner’ who was making his way along Robeys Lane one night, on his way back from work. Looking towards the canal, he claimed to have seen the figure of a ‘lady in white’ in the process of ‘floating above the canal’, moving in the direction of the priory. He saw the figure so clearly, he could see that she seemingly ‘had no hands’… The experience ended when the pale form disappeared into the trees and shrubbery at the side of the waterway, traveling in a fashion that supposedly coincided with the footprint of the former St. Blase Church…
Could this – Jean wonders – have been the ghost of the aforementioned, wrongly murdered, Lady Burdet… faithful wife of Sir William? The direction in which she appeared to be traveling fitted the nave of the - now long-gone - church building… so was she ‘haunting’ the location of her husband’s last resting place?
A final point of interest in this particular account lies with the effigy of Lady Burdet, which is situated in nearby Seckington Church. As with many such memorials, the carving of this lady had been quite damaged over the passing of time… one particular, quite obvious feature, being the fact that her figure ‘has no hands’…?
As always – my gratitude goes out to the lovely John Chance for kindly taking me with him on another of his rambles! Cheers mate!
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